Vodafone Qatar H1 Revenue up 18%

Doha, November 15 (QNA) - Vodafone Qatar has reported an 18% growth in its first half revenue year-on-year driven by a combination of continued customer growth and a strong Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) performance which resulted in a 57% EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortisation) improvement over the same period last year. Qatar's second telecom operator, which follows April-March financial year unlike other companies listed on the Qatar stock exchange, has reported a mobile customer base of 936,300 users as on September30, representing an increase by 15% compared to the same period in 2011. The total revenue grew 18% to QR696 Million, a company official said, and added that mobile ARPU increased to 118; which was a 7% year-on-year growth. Ebitda achieved was QR102 Million during the review period. Having reported a net loss of QR240 Million during April-September; the company said this is an underlying improvement of 8.5% compared to the same period last year. "During the first half of the year we launched a number of new products into the market," Vodafone Qatar CEO Richard Daly (pictured) said. "Post-paid services were our biggest launch since start-up and something that all of us at Vodafone are incredibly proud of, he said, adding early customer feedback had been positive, particularly amongst Qatari customers. "We will continue to develop this fibre network and in partnership with Q.NBN and use it to launch innovative new services such as super fast Fixed Broadband and converged Enterprise offerings in the second half of this year," he added. (QNA)